Balenciaga name Demna Gvasalia as creative director to take over from Alexander Wang

The brand have announced Demna Gvasalia as the new artistic director of Balenciaga’s collections
Models walk Alexander Wang's last Balenciaga runway for spring/summer 2016
Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty
Charlie Teather7 October 2015

While Paris Fashion Week may only just be beginning to wind down, we are already looking ahead to next season.

And with Balenciaga having confirmed Alexander Wang's iminent departure as creative director for the brand back in July - after suggestions that the designer wanted to dedicate more time to his eponymous brand - the fashion world have been waiting with baited breath to discover his successor.

Announced - and effective - today, the brand have revealed the appointment of Demna Gvasalia.

Demna Gvasalia has been named creative director of Balenciaga
Willy Vanderperre

The Georgian designer, who is the lead talent behind the collective - comprising of Demna, his brother Guram and five other friends - that creates the Vetements label, is believed to be showing his first collection for Balenciaga in March for autumn/winter 2016.

Speaking of the appointment, Isabelle Guichot, president and CEO of Balenciaga, said: "I am very pleased to welcome Demna Gvasalia as the artistic director of Balenciaga’s collections. He has quickly emerged as the best choice for the new artistic direction of the maison."

Balenciaga at Paris Fashion Week

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"With his mastery of techniques, his expertise and fashion knowledge, in conjunction with his innovative and carefully considered approach, Demna Gvasalia adopts a unique vision of the designer’s role today and thus recalls Cristobal Balenciaga’s own vision."

"I am confident that he will succeed in embracing Balenciaga’s core values and developing them in harmony with today’s global changes."

According to Balenciaga, Gvasalia - who has previously designed for Maison Martin Margiela and Louis Vuitton - is also set to 'fulfill his responsibilities for the Vetements brand'. Perhaps a surprising aim, considering the perceived struggle that Wang had balancing the label alongside his own.

But without the constant channel-hopping to New York that Wang faced, Paris-based Gvasalia should be setting himself in better stead. With all eyes on his autumn/winter runway, only time will tell.

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